As a long-time automotive masochist and closeted anglophile, I have always had a deep desire to one day own a Range Rover. Specifically, an L322 Range Rover. While the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and Harry Metcalfe have long lauded the L322 as the best car of all time, the vehicle also carries a reputation for running costs more akin to a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier than an SUV. Undeterred by common sense, I started my search for a low-ish-mileage example with a good history and in an attractive color combo — good, responsible, used-car purchasing criteria.
Then I got a text message that blew that plan for a sensible, low-mileage L322 to smithereens.
A dealer friend of mine messaged me that he had just bought a one-owner, 321k-mile 2006 Range Rover HSE from a local charity auction. After asking the most important qualifying question (What color is it?), I decided I had to have it. In a brilliant stroke of tactful negotiation, I offered to double his money without seeing a single picture. I just had to find out who was crazy enough — and, more importantly, what it took — to put nearly ⅓ of a million miles on one of the least dependable cars of all time. What better way to do so than to blindly sign on the dotted line?
When I purchased this Tonga Green example in February, it came with a title, a death certificate, a discarded business card in the glovebox, and little else. While I usually insist on a fully documented service history for any used car, I was going to have to get creative considering the circumstances I found myself in. After an evening of internet sleuthing, I tracked down the owner’s obituary and, eventually, got in touch with his widow. She was delighted that her husband’s beloved green Rover ended up in good hands (debatable), but unfortunately, the Range Rover’s comprehensive 20-year history file had been discarded when the truck was donated to charity. A tragedy far greater than the fire at the Library of Alexandria.
Despite this, she put me in touch with the mechanic who had serviced this truck exclusively since it went out of warranty in 2008. While his shop’s records didn’t reach back that far, he was able to produce detailed invoices back to 2012 and 125k miles. With those invoices and the longest CarFax I’ve ever seen, I was finally able to piece together my truck’s backstory, and it’s nothing short of staggering.
First, we must congratulate the original owner — a paving and earth-moving contractor — for his extraordinary commute and depth of wallet to pilot this Rover the distance to the moon and nearly a third of the way back. After purchasing it new at Symes Land Rover of Pasadena, he proceeded to drive it from his home in Del Mar all the way to Rancho Cucamonga, a round-trip commute of up to 200 miles, multiple times a week, for almost two decades. An incredible feat for any car, let alone an L322.
After the equivalent of circumnavigating the globe 13 times, this full-fat Range Rover has needed 66 oil changes, 11 sets of brakes, 5 transmission fluid changes, 4 front air struts, 3 air suspension compressors, 3 radiators, 2 sets of control arms, 2 ignition switches, and an electronic steering column in a pear tree. More impressively, despite an odometer that would make a Land Cruiser blush, this Rover still sports its original engine, transmission, transfer case, differential, and rear air springs. Even the engine mounts still wear date codes from the last Bush administration.
While this particular sub-genre of L322 from 2006-2009 may be known for its durability, it still has a proclivity for consuming stacks of Benjamin Franklins like Smarties. My truck is no exception. Over the 200k miles of invoices from the previous owner, I’ve calculated that the owner squandered invested $48,975.16 in maintenance, not including consumables like tires or gasoline. That equates to 25 cents per mile in upkeep alone, nearly triple the national average!
Even though this truck has surely had more work done than I have listed (a door handle cable here, a window regulator there, etc.), any car with over 300k miles is entitled to some wear and tear. Except for a cryptic CarFax entry for a head gasket replacement at six months old (which explains why my windshield still sports a “Land Rover Newport Beach Preferred Customer” sticker), none of the invoices reflect the horror stories you usually hear about out-of-warranty Range Rover ownership.
This dedication to preventative maintenance is probably why this Range Rover has made it this far. The mechanic who worked with the original owner for over 15 years remarked that, up until his health began to fail, the owner had always maintained this truck with an open checkbook, no questions asked. Add four years of missing invoices from 2008-2012 at an average of $1,088.33, tires, a mediocre paint job of undetermined origin and age, and the original owner likely spent well over of this Rover’s original MSRP ($75,750) on upkeep alone. This man was not a martyr. He was a saint.
When I finally saw it in person, there was something about this Rover that exuded good juju. The paint, though riddled with orange peel, was still glossy, the air suspension went up and down, and it had a nearly fresh set of Michelins. While I had essentially signed up for the automotive equivalent of providing hospice care, this truck clearly still had plenty of life left in it. Moreover, I felt like this weathered Range Rover deserved a second chance. I handed over $1,100 of my hard-earned money and drove it home in the comforting amber glow of its check engine light.
Despite a healthy-sounding engine and a disarmingly smooth transmission, some maintenance clearly had been deferred as the owner’s health declined. Every suspension bushing in the front end was all but gone, lending to a cacophony that can best be likened to a box of metal cups being thrown on the ground whenever going over a speed bump. The brakes were nearly down to the metal, the valve covers were warped and leaky, the A/C didn’t work, and, after over 300k miles, the seats, door panels, and steering wheel might as well be considered consumables.
Fortunately, the aforementioned check engine light extinguished itself in the first week of ownership after a proper tank of premium and has yet to return. Still, my empathy for inanimate objects has cost me dearly. Since purchasing it, I have sunk over $7k into this Range Rover — an act of financial irresponsibility that should have me institutionalized.
So far, that eye-watering figure has gone to replacing all the worn suspension bushings, retrofitting Supercharged-model Brembo calipers along with new pads and rotors, installing new aluminum valve covers, flushing all of the fluids, and sourcing new wheels, a new interior, various trim pieces, lenses, and accessories to freshen up the old girl. Amazingly, many expensive wear items like suspension and brakes are available through FCP Euro with a lifetime warranty! Between that, a lifetime alignment from Firestone, and an oversupply of L322s in junkyards, my ongoing spend to keep this truck on the road should be minimal. Or so I hope.
At the time of this writing, my maintenance tracking spreadsheet tells me that, between the previous owner and myself, we’ve spent a combined $56,885.39 on this Range Rover. My share alone comes to $1.94 per mile in just maintenance. Ouch.
Is it worth it? For the first owner, objectively, probably not. Given how much he drove, there was a litany of more economical options available at the time that would’ve made much more sense. For me, it definitely isn’t worth it. For my intended use case, I should have just bought a Toyota 4Runner or Land Cruiser, and called it a day.
But real life isn’t so cut-and-dried. Quantifying the value of where you spend a lot of your time is a very personal equation. Yes, a Range Rover is not simple to keep on the road, but the interior of an L322 might be one of the most magnificent places to watch the miles go by. In that respect, I now truly understand why the original owner picked it for his commute. This wasn’t just his means of getting to and from work; it was his fortress of solitude. A rolling Xanadu. If I were in his shoes, or rather his loafers, I think I too would have made the same decision.
To me, though, this truck is so much more. It has fulfilled a dream I’ve had since I saw my first L322 as a child. I could have checked that box with any L322, but I’m a sucker for a story. This Rover’s story was just so unique that I couldn’t resist continuing it. It may not be the most practical choice, but I can’t think of a more incredible machine for date nights, road trips with friends, adventures in the great outdoors, and, ultimately, making memories.
Financially inadvisable? Surely. Worth it? Absolutely.
All photos: author
Top graphic images: author; DepositPhotos.com
Wow. Eleven sets of brakes over 320K miles of mostly freeway driving? That’s less than 30K per set. What are those pads made out of? Butter? Even with a lot of urban driving in fairly hilly territory, my cars routinely get at least three times that many miles before pads need replacement. And usually, it’s just the front ones.
But this car undeniably has “presence.” A Range Rover and a home in Del Mar have me half-wondering whether I made the right choices in life.
The conversations with the owner’s widow and the mechanic were probably fascinating and partly offset some of your expenses. Mentally at least.
Great article. Thanks for contributing it and to those at The Autopian who facilitated it. And just out of curiosity, are you related to William “Willie The Shoe” Shoemaker, the record-holding jockey?
Hours matter more than miles in most cases. If this thing spent it’s life on that 200 mile highway commute, it led a relatively easy life in a definitely easy climate. I worked for a bank courier service that managed to get 500K+ miles out of craptastic 80s Ford Escorts – by doing it in less than three years. There is no more hooptie of a car than a 3yo ’88 Ford Escort station wagon with a half-million on the clock and the absolute least amount of maintenance that would get it through state inspection every year.
And even with as much money as has been spent on this Rover, the biggest expense other than gasoline was still *depreciation*, not repairs. $74K in depreciation vs. $55K in repairs. Which just goes to show just how far you need to drive a luxury car before repairs become the biggest expense. And how asinine serial leasing luxury cars is from a financial perspective.